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northern nova province. moonhigh. Primarily accustomed to grave faces and serious voices, the chambers of Nova Province's commissioner's office seemed to have taken on the serious air of its affairs after moons of hosting meetings, debates, and trials. Not tonight, however. Tonight, tinkling laughter and jovial conversations bounced around the main hall. Something about the greenleaf air, perhaps, had made everyone -- governors from the other Provinces, Nova politicians, and of course, the wealthy families who supported them -- cut loose. She-cats walked about with wreaths of entwined flowers perched on their heads and their pelts glittering, dusted with crushed sparkling gems. Toms sported richly colored berry juice tattoos and clustered in circles, bragging about everything from their territories to their kits. Thistlewing, the governor's deputy in charge, stood watching from a secluded corner. "Good evening, sir," he said as the governor of Nova himself joined him, licking the remnants of a berry-stuffed mouse off his lips. "Good evening, Thistlewing," said Governor Aldryn, regarding his officer fondly. "All right? I noticed you're not joining in the merriment." Thistlewing hesitated. He had supported Aldryn and his family for countless moons, but that did not mean he always agreed with the governor. "Are you sure this is wise, sir? I still have my doubts." "Doubts? Just a bit of festivity, Thistlewing. What's to doubt?" "Whether this is... prudent. Whether it's what your cats need." The governor gazed at him, and Thistlewing couldn't help notice the flecks of gray that seemed to have multiplied, clustered around the tom's muzzle, ears, and kind brown eyes. "Don't think our troubles have slipped my mind, Thistlewing. I am just as aware of the world around me as you are." Aware that the governor's politeness hid a rising sense of exasperation, Thistlewing changed the focus of the conversation. "Governor Misha of Chang isn't here today, I noticed." "She is feeling poorly." But the governor wouldn't meet his eyes. "You doubt her honesty." "I don't begrudge Misha a raincheck. Stars know she has enough to worry about in that cliffside ramble she calls a Province." "Cliffs are hard to patrol and control," agreed Thistlewing. "Word is..." he glanced around furtively, lowering his voice, "the smugglers and cartels are thriving in Chang." "Lucky us, to be sharing a border with them," sighed Aldryn. "I need to call a meeting with the patrols soon, let them know to up security." "They'll like that," mumbled Thistlewing. "We're already overstretched." "We'll make it work. Just remind me." Thistlewing looked nervous. "Listen, sir, there's something I need to tell you. In private." Aldryn was just starting to laugh. "You picked a pretty bad time for it, then, considering we're in the middle of a--" A rumbling noise ran through the ceiling and reverberated in the floor underpaw. Cats glanced up in confusion as rocks and dust began showering them. The bewildered murmurs turned to screams as the rocks grew in size. Chinks of the night sky punctured the ceiling like dark wounds, bleeding out silver starlight. The world turned to gray and brown, and filled with shouts and the sounds of enormous rocks shattering on the floor. Aldryn threw himself flat against a wall. A shard of rock sliced through his shoulder, and he grit his teeth as blood streamed down his leg. He heard a high voice scream his name. "Allaris!" he called back, but his mate was nowhere to be seen -- where had he seen her last? Near the place where the boulders first started falling? Cold fear wrapped around his heart and squeezed it tight. It took a short eternity for the rocks to stop falling. The air remained cloudy with dust, but Aldryn was on his paws as soon as he could stand. "Governor Aldryn! What is the meaning of this?" a cat snarled to his left. Icestar of Glacia was fixing him with a frosty glare. But Aldryn hardly looked at him. Cats were crawling out of the rubble all around him, but the governor made a beeline for a sand-colored she-cat. "Allaris," he breathed in relief, pulling his mate to his side. "I heard a scream. Who's hurt?" the she-cat said, wiping away blood from her own wound, a gash in her forehead. "Everyone was screaming," said Icestar scornfully. "No, I heard what Allaris is talking about too. It was a different kind of scream -- one of pure pain, and it didn't even seem like it came from inside the cavern," said another voice. Governor Tania of Province Keisel began climbing over the rocks towards the exit. When she disappeared beyond where the walls of the commissioner's office had once stood firm, she let out an audible gasp that carried through the still, dusty air. "Governor Aldryn, you better come see this." "What? What is it?" The governor felt a sickening lurch of dread in his stomach; the rockfall would cause him enough additional problems, and the last thing he wanted was more bad news. "It's Thistlewing. He's dead." western nova province. post sunrise. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead! I brought you a rabbit!" I opened my eyes just in time to have said rabbit hit me full in the face. I staggered backwards and nearly toppled into the wall. Those things are not exactly small, let me tell you. "Ow! Chase? What on earth are you doing?" "Eaffing," he said through a mouthful of what appeared to be vole. "I can see that," I grumbled. "I meant what were you doing inside my den, uninvited, when I wasn't even awake yet?" "Is that not a socially acceptable thing to do?" he pouted. I glanced down at the rabbit, crinkling my nose. "We're not friends, you know." Beaming, he said, "So I thought we'd have breakfast together and become friends! Friends who catch killers together stay together." I scowled. "That better not be some lame cover-up for hitting on me." "Uh, hon, do you know what you look like when you've just rolled out of your nest?" I chucked the rabbit back at him. "This is a waste of perfectly good food, you know," he scolded. "If you're not eating it, I'm just going to have two breakfasts." "I've never tried rabbit," I admitted. Chase's jaw dropped. "What? What kind of cat has never had rabbit?" He pushed it towards me. "You have to. It's no longer optional." "Oh, fine..." I lowered my head and bit off a small piece. "Well?" Chase asked. "It's... it's... Oh, I've always been a really good liar, but even I can't deny it: it's really good!" For once, I stopped talking not because I lacked the social skills of a worm on a log, but because I was too busy gobbling down the entire rabbit. By the time I was finished, Chase had wandered outside. I joined him down by the brook, where he was dipping his paw in the water and watching the ripples fan out in rings. "Admiring your reflection?" "Huh? Oh, well who wouldn't, with a face as gorgeous as mine?" "Very funny." He gave me a sheepish smile. "I just spaced out for a little bit." "Are you all right?" I asked, hoping he'd say yes and we could move on. "Yes," Chase said, but I could see from his face that he wasn't. And I instantly felt guilty, but I didn't know how to go about fixing it, even though I realized I wanted to. "Is this about Anna?" Glancing away, Chase swallowed and said, "Sort of. It's mostly about Weston. He still won't speak to me; I haven't even seen him. I tried to visit him and Anna, but he wasn't there -- either that, or he's avoiding us both. Probably the latter. So I thought I'd go the one place you can always find Weston." "And that would be?" "A murder scene." I raised my eyebrows. "So that's why you want my help. You want me to kill someone." He shook his head. "Already done." "Well, then get away from me. I don't want to become an accomplice." Chase gave me a sly sort of smile. "Looks like the Grave Lady can make a joke after all." "Did you seriously just make that pun?" "Dead serious." "Unbelievable." Sighing, Chase said, "Unfortunately, the murder scene we're about to head to is a bit . . . Well, we're going to have to behave ourselves." "As opposed to other murder scenes, where cats are usually encouraged to party wildly," I deadpanned. "So that's how you spend your free time. I shall take note." "Cut it. Where are we headed?" I stopped short, realizing what I just said, and gave a sigh. "Great. How did I let you rope me into this . . .?" Smugly, Chase said, "I don't need to hit on she-cats to have them at my beck and call." The threatening look I gave him, plus my offer to give him the chance to investigate his own murder, was enough for him to quickly drop the smirk, though. "We're headed to the governor's?" "The governor? Of Nova?" "Yes. Governor Aldryn." I gulped. "Is he . . .?" Chase almost laughed, but his eyes were somber. "No. His second-in-command, Thistlewing." "How?" I breathed. Chase's jaw tightened. "That," he said, frowning, "is apparently exactly what no one can agree about." northern nova province. sunhigh. "It's so strange. If someone wanted to terrorize Governor Aldryn and the other officials, why would they drag Thistlewing out specifically? And if they just wanted to kill him, why would they start a cave-in? That's a lot of work to go through for a distraction." "I agree. It doesn't make any sense." Chase and I crouched behind a shrub-covered hill like a pair of utter creeps, eavesdropping on Anna and Weston, who were discussing the details of their case down below. Chase was mumbling under his breath, trying to commit everything Anna and Weston said to memory. "Any progress?" said a new voice. Governor Aldryn himself had joined Weston and Anna. The governor's face was knitted with worry, and his eyes were exhausted and sad. Apologetically, Anna said, "We still need to perform a closer examination of the cavern." Making a most undignified and blatantly disgusted face, Aldryn said, "Still off limits. The other governors are sending in their own detectives, one by one, to investigate what they think is an attempt by me to kill them all, regardless of the fact that I and my mate almost perished with them." He paused to employ a very deliberate swear word; I heard Chase let out a low breath of admiration next to me. "The Kiesel detectives haven't even arrived yet. By the time all the Provinces have had their say in whether I am a mass terrorist, the crime scene will be so tampered with that I daresay you'll only find evidence that all the region is nosy and paranoid." Weston groaned in agreement. "Yeah. And unfortunately, we already knew that." Aldryn kicked the ground sullenly. "Forgive me," he said, in a voice that strongly hinted at barely contained rage. "Perhaps I should have skipped the perfunctory customs and just allowed you in without stopping to talk to the other governors. My best friend has just been killed, and the rest of the Provinces are too busy trying to turn an act of kindness and hospitability into an attack against them to even let me find his killer." "We understand. You have our sincerest condolences, Governor," said Anna sadly. I nudged Chase. "You know what?" "What?" he whispered back. "We haven't been checked in. The other governors don't know who we are -- if we slip past Governor Tania, we could pretend to be the detectives from Province Kiesel--" "And we could investigate," Chase said, eyes widening. "That's brilliant." "I try." We skittered down from our hiding place, still keeping out of sight from Weston and Anna, and made our way towards the heap of rubble where the governor's cavernous hall had once been. A narrow-faced black tom was examining a spot just beyond the rubble, where the grass was flattened and splattered with what I was pretty sure was blood. He glanced up and grunted, "Kiesel?" "Yes," I said, as Chase glanced around, trying to make sure the coast was clear without being too obvious. "I'm done here. You can take over," the black tom said, and loped over to where a snowy white tom stood awaiting him. "Is that Icestar of Glacia?" I said, astonished. Chase nodded. "Which means that other tom must have been his detective." "Can't be very good. It was us who solved Glacia's last murder," I muttered, and Chase's mouth quirked into a half-smile. "Anyway, you heard Mr. Not-Good-Detective. We can take over." "Do a good job. We're surrounded by celebrities," I tell Chase, my eyes already roving around. "You know, I see Weston's point. It makes no sense. Why bring Thistlewing out here to kill him? Why not shove him under a rock?" Chase frowned. "Hate to admit it, but you might be right. We might have to try another approach. Start at the beginning: with our victim. We need to find out everything we can about him." I flicked my ears. "That would be easier if we were Weston and Anna, and could talk directly to Governor Aldryn. The governor would know everything Thistlewing was working on." "He might have a family or a mate we could talk to," Chase suggested. "Though that's always brutal, questioning the family right after it happens." I hadn't had a lot of experience with this sort of thing, so I allowed him a moment of reflection before continuing, "Let's wrap up our observations and then decide what to do next." "He could have been dragged. While the rocks were falling, he could have been dragged out." I studied the grass. "It's hard to tell. The other detectives have left tracks everywhere." Letting out a noise of frustration, Chase said, "There's too much we don't know. We need a list of who was at the gathering, and whether they were still there immediately after the rockfall." "I can't ask Weston; he doesn't know me," I pointed out. "Are you sure he wouldn't put aside his anger for the sake of the case?" Hesitantly, Chase said, "Normally I'd say Weston would do anything to solve a case, but I don't think that extends to sharing information with someone he'd like to beat up. Besides, he doesn't . . . Weston's a genius. He doesn't really need me at all. And he's stubborn as all stars; it makes him a great detective, but it also means he can hold a killer grudge. We grew up together; I'm supposed to know that Anna is the one thing that he will never let anyone dare to hurt. He will forgive me, though. . . . That's what best friends do." "What if I asked Anna?" "Now there's an idea. I think it's better if I just don't talk to either of them, but if you can get Anna away from Weston, you might have a shot." "While I do that, why don't you try to get a closer look at the body?" "The body? I don't know where it is! Governor Aldryn is probably having it prepared for a big vigil tonight," Chase said. "Then you better find it quickly," I said, and struck out down the slope towards Anna and Weston. Luck was on my side; as I approached, Weston